R O U N D T H E WO R L D . 333
6 H A P. III.
Range from Tolagd to Mercury Bay, with an Account
o f many Incidents that happened both on board and afhore:
A Defcription o f fed era l Views exhibited by the Country,
and o f the Heppahs, or fo r tified Villages o f the Inhabitants.
ON Monday, the 30th, about half an hour after one o’clock, i769.
Having made fail again to the northward for about ten , oacf r- J
hours', with4 f light breeze, I hauled round a. fmall ifland Monda),3Cf‘
■ which lay daft one mile from the north daft point of the
iand: from this place 1 found the land trend away N.W. by W.
and W. N.W. as far as I could fee, this point being the eaft-
ermoft land on the whole coaft. I gave it the name of East
Cape, and I called the ifland that lies off it E ast Island j it
is of a fmall circuit, high and rotmd, and appears white and
barren: the Cape is high, With’white cliffs^ and lies in lath
tude 37° 42' 30" S. and longitude r8i° iXh The land from
Tolaga Bay to Eaft Cape is of 9 ihoderate, but unequal
height, forming feveral fmall bays, in which are fandy
beaches: of the inland country we could not lee much, the
weather being cloudy and hazy. The foundings were from
twenty to thirty fathom at the diftance of about a league
froth the Ihore. After we had rounded the Cape, we faw in
bur run along the Ihore a great number of villages*,’ and
fnuch cultivated land; the country in general appeared more
fertile than before, and Was loW near the fea, but hilly
brithin. At fix in the evening, being four leagues’ to the
leftward of Eaft Cape, we palled a bay which was fifft dif-
Vot. II. T t covered